Rum Cooler

For what it is worth, the Rum Cooler is an easy, build-in-glass cocktail that can be made with minimal preparation. This is a good thing because it is also a very strong drink, and its simplicity means that you can make a second one after the first has completely sapped your fine motor skills.

The point of this drink is to make a strong and long rum cocktail with ginger ale. The orange twist is actually a nice touch. Expressing the twist gives the cocktail an orange flavor that becomes more pronounced as you drink it down.

If you have these ingredients on a hot day, by all means, enjoy this drink.

• 3 oz. light rum (Cruzan aged used)
• ginger ale (Q used)
• orange twist

Build drink in a highball glass with rum and ice. Top with ginger ale and stir gently. Twist orange peel over the drink and drop it in. 

Chamborlada

The idea behind this drink is a Pina Colada with Chambord raspberry liqueur added for color and flavor. I don't have Chambord because I make my own with fresh raspberries, rum and sugar. But this drink is indicative of a time when tropical-themed hotels and bars were trying to differentiate the most popular cocktail in the American South--The Pina Colada!

Another note: I'm not sure what actual Chambord does, but my natural raspberry liqueur just sinks to the bottom of the glass. Look at the photo. I didn't start by putting the liqueur on the bottom as the instructions said. I put it in half way and again on top. What I got was a raspberry bomb at the bottom, which was really tasty.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. dark rum
• 2 oz. cream of coconut 
• 3 oz pineapple juice
• 2 oz. Chambord (homemade raspberry liqueur used)

Combine all ingredients except Chambord in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth on low speed. Add a little of the Chambord to the bottom of a cocktail glass or balloon wine glass. Pour the blended cocktail on top. Top with the remaining Chambord.

Banana Daiquiri

If by Banana Daiquiri, you mean a banana smoothie with a bit of lime and rum, than this is the drink you asked for. First, I don't hold that all Daiquiris must be frozen. Second, If it is a Daiquiri it should be tart. What the hell is this creamy banana thing?

Laying all that aside, this is a pretty good drink. It is truly 90s vintage or related to resort beach drinks of the 80s where the word Daiquiri meant frozen tropical drink, not a tart juicy rum sipper. You can make this cocktail in a balloon wine glass if you like. I wanted it in a Hurricane glass because it belongs on a cruise ship.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. half-and-half
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 sliced banana
• lime slice

Combine all ingredients except lime slice in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a balloon wine glass. Garnish with lime slice. 

Outrigger

Outrigger canoes like those used by native Hawaiians have a secondary hull for stability. This recipe, however may make you less stable after you finish it. The recipe calls for gold rum, which is vague since color is not a good way to classify rums. When I see gold rum, I take it to mean a blend of aged and lightly aged white rum. I split the amount called for with equal parts 151-proof rum and white lightly aged rum.

Apricot liqueur and curacao are also nice tropical additions to this drink that, besides lime juice, is all hard liquor.

• 2 oz. gold rum (1 oz. Cruzan 151-proof rum and 1 oz. Cruzan aged white rum used)
• 1/2 oz. apricot liqueur
• 1/2 oz. curacao
• 1 oz. lime juice
• lime slice

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice. Garnish with the lime slice.